Brian James tipper trailer, good or bad?

[dig-dug-dan]

I have moved over to Brian James from ifor. Far better build quality and ride handling . Once the tipper needs replacing, it will be a Brian james

[nepia]

dog walker - I took a couple of pics that may guide you.  There's nothing by the barn door hinges to impeded the flow of logs, chip, potatoes or whatever.

 

A feature of the whole trailer is that it's really well thought out; where handles are, how they work, how things are held/locked in place.  To the extent that the pins that each of the four dropdown sides' hinges slide onto are different lengths to make sliding the panel on easier - ever tried hanging a 12' gate on your own when the hinge pins are the same length?!

The high sides - which I have to say are flimsy in comparison to the dropdown sides and the rest of the trailer - have plastic door handle type handles for easy grabbing.

I opted for slide under ramps; they're bloody good ones and again are a doddle to get in and out.

 

I'm afraid I can't offer an opinion on other makes; the only make of trailer I've had went out of business many years ago.

 

I ramble but I hope it all helps.  The guys who've also posted are far more experienced than me and speak sense.

 

[The dogwalker]

4 minutes ago, nepia said:

dog walker - I took a couple of pics that may guide you.  There's nothing by the barn door hinges to impeded the flow of logs, chip, potatoes or whatever.

 

A feature of the whole trailer is that it's really well thought out; where handles are, how they work, how things are held/locked in place.  To the extent that the pins that each of the four dropdown sides' hinges slide onto are different lengths to make sliding the panel on easier - ever tried hanging a 12' gate on your own when the hinge pins are the same length?!

The high sides - which I have to say are flimsy in comparison to the dropdown sides and the rest of the trailer - have plastic door handle type handles for easy grabbing.

I opted for slide under ramps; they're bloody good ones and again are a doddle to get in and out.

 

I'm afraid I can't offer an opinion on other makes; the only make of trailer I've had went out of business many years ago.

 

I ramble but I hope it all helps.  The guys who've also posted are far more experienced than me and speak sense.

 

Nepia

I will have to thank you many times to thank you enough for detailed answers and the pics.

Thank you!

 

//Markus

[woodwoozles]

Whats the benefit of mesh sides over boards?

Obviously boards you can carry soil sand manure ect. Although this could be partly possible with bulk bags against the mesh.

Im keen to sort out a trailer ive just bought,
Ive skim read this post looking for ideas in adding high sides. It needs a bit of work, electics and sorting of dump level ect.
Its A wessex 2.5t trailer.

I was given some mesh sides from a iveco council type vehicle its quite heavy stuff. Proabbly not designed to be lifted on and off between jobs.

My work buddy has a 12ft flat bed non tipping poss with 4 sides plus back and front. The post sink into the bed so its almost modular. Ide be up dor doing something like this.

So usesful to have drop sides removable and be able to remove on side to load into. Brash/branches or even shoot chip into. Manure deliveries ect.

[nepia]

29 minutes ago, woodwoozles said:

Whats the benefit of mesh sides over boards?
 

Less weight, less air drag.  If you pile heavy materials far above the solid bottom panels weight will become an issue so solid sides above are not needed.

Yes, boards help with chip but as you say mesh can be lined for that.

[monkeybusiness]

I think the ‘new’ Ifor solid aluminium high sides are actually lighter than the older mesh sides (they certainly feel lighter). The aluminium does get dings easily though (it’s like a fly’s wing!). 

[doobin]

Theres not a lot in price between all the major manufacturers. I've just priced up the following:

 

All around the same money, hard to compare as things like the tailgate is an option (!) on the Brian James and the ramp holders an option on the ifor!  I think the above prices were with both tailgate and ramp holders.

 

In the end I called Buffalo trailers for a price, around 4k, but they had a s/h triaxle 10*6 tipper that had been thru the workshop for 2.5k plus VAT. So I bought that to see if I like having a tipper trailer, it's had new tyres, new brake cables, all lights and brakes work which is the main thing on a secondhand trailer. Nothing I can't do myself but that trailer has to be the right money for that. Floor is steel plated so although the board underneath is going in places it should do a couple of years then l'll flog it for new if it fits the business. I quite like it. It's clearly had a hard life, but has stood up to it well, 2.5k is about what I'd expect a secondhand 3.5t tipper to owe me if I bought it as cheap as they get and put it through my workshop so I'm happy.

 

Here's a beavertail I bought for £900 with new resin ply fitted (had to flip it over though! muppets put it shiny side up) Brake shoes were good, had two sets of ramps with it, I changed the cables, a bearing and put brand new wheels on it. Stands me in at £1600 including two full vehicle tie down sets, a spare wheel, new prop stands, new jockey wheel, box and a few other trinkets. Handy for bulky stuff and as a backup plant trailer than can handle all my diggers (just) Pro tip- if you have to change all the tyres on a trailer, then it's not a lot more just to get a set of wheels and tyres off eBay. I went for the more modern wider tyres/rims, and flogged the knackered set for £50.

 

My plant trailer I bought for £400, added a steel over boarding floor, new lights and a few extra tiedowns. Ran sweet for a year then I did the brake shoes last month. Buying trailers at the right money for the condition is an art, and it's hard when you're VAT registered as the s/h no vat values are stupidly high because every smalltime builder wants a trailer.

I seem to have ended up with as many old secondhand trailers as old secondhand vehicles, but you can't beat having exactly the right tool for the job plus spare capacity.

Edited May 8, 2020 by doobin

[SimpleSimon]

Interesting thread, I'm looking to get a trailer sorted soon and would probably look for used, but it's good to know what's about.

The Brian James has suspension dampers as an option. Anybody know what they actually do and if they're worth having? As its not something I've seen advertised on others. 

[dig-dug-dan]

1 hour ago, SimpleSimon said:

Interesting thread, I'm looking to get a trailer sorted soon and would probably look for used, but it's good to know what's about.

The Brian James has suspension dampers as an option. Anybody know what they actually do and if they're worth having? As its not something I've seen advertised on others. 

They give a smooth ride when the trailer is empty or full. Tow an ifor empty and then tow a Brian James empty. Its night and day

[SimpleSimon]

7 minutes ago, dig-dug-dan said:

They give a smooth ride when the trailer is empty or full. Tow an ifor empty and then tow a Brian James empty. Its night and day

Ah! Thank you, I understand. Good option to have, then!